THE new daily national minimum wage (NDMW) is now GH¢3.73, the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) announced in Accra yesterday after a fruitful engagement among the social partners.
The amount, which represents a 20 per cent increase over the previous minimum wage of GH¢3.11, takes effect from February 15, 2011.
The minimum wage is the least amount of money that any employer can give to an employee for a day’s work.
A communiqué to seal the NDMW was delivered, with the Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere, signing on behalf of the government, while the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), Mr Alex Frimpong, and the Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, initialled it for employers and organised labour, respectively.
In view of the increment, Mr Boasiako-Sekyere entreated institutions and organisations whose NDMW was below the new one, which was tax exempt, to accordingly adjust their wages upwards.
He reiterated the NTC’s commitment to improve incomes and productivity in both the public and private sectors.
Mr Asamoah told the Daily Graphic that the social partners took into consideration the prevailing economic factors in the country before arriving at the new figure.
Heaving a sigh of relief after hectic deliberations with the social partners which began in November last year, Mr Asamoah indicated that the main concern of the social partners had been how to obtain a fair NDMW which he stressed was the guiding principle of salary negotiations.
Mr Boasiako-Sekyere, in a separate interview, expressed concern over the fact that information pointed to some institutions failing to effect changes each time an NDMW was announced.
He cautioned those recalcitrant organisations that a team from the Inspectorate Division of the ministry would embark on a monitoring of organisations to prosecute those that failed to effect the minimum wage.
He said having announced an NDMW, what was left to be done was the negotiation of the base pay for the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) as a basis for salary negotiations.
The expected announcement of the NDMW at the end of last month did not materialise, as representatives of labour and the government failed to conclude negotiations.
While the representatives of organised labour on the NTC made a case for “substantial increases” to cushion workers against the effects of the 42 per cent increase in utility tariffs in June 2010 and the 30 per cent fuel price hike in January this year, government’s representatives on the committee were employing the single digit inflationary figure of 8.5 per cent as its trump card at the negotiating table.
Representatives of organised labour, led by Mr Asamoah, had laid their proposals before the NTC for consideration and a meeting had been convened on January 31, 2010 to discuss their demands.
The amount, which represents a 20 per cent increase over the previous minimum wage of GH¢3.11, takes effect from February 15, 2011.
The minimum wage is the least amount of money that any employer can give to an employee for a day’s work.
A communiqué to seal the NDMW was delivered, with the Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere, signing on behalf of the government, while the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), Mr Alex Frimpong, and the Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, initialled it for employers and organised labour, respectively.
In view of the increment, Mr Boasiako-Sekyere entreated institutions and organisations whose NDMW was below the new one, which was tax exempt, to accordingly adjust their wages upwards.
He reiterated the NTC’s commitment to improve incomes and productivity in both the public and private sectors.
Mr Asamoah told the Daily Graphic that the social partners took into consideration the prevailing economic factors in the country before arriving at the new figure.
Heaving a sigh of relief after hectic deliberations with the social partners which began in November last year, Mr Asamoah indicated that the main concern of the social partners had been how to obtain a fair NDMW which he stressed was the guiding principle of salary negotiations.
Mr Boasiako-Sekyere, in a separate interview, expressed concern over the fact that information pointed to some institutions failing to effect changes each time an NDMW was announced.
He cautioned those recalcitrant organisations that a team from the Inspectorate Division of the ministry would embark on a monitoring of organisations to prosecute those that failed to effect the minimum wage.
He said having announced an NDMW, what was left to be done was the negotiation of the base pay for the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) as a basis for salary negotiations.
The expected announcement of the NDMW at the end of last month did not materialise, as representatives of labour and the government failed to conclude negotiations.
While the representatives of organised labour on the NTC made a case for “substantial increases” to cushion workers against the effects of the 42 per cent increase in utility tariffs in June 2010 and the 30 per cent fuel price hike in January this year, government’s representatives on the committee were employing the single digit inflationary figure of 8.5 per cent as its trump card at the negotiating table.
Representatives of organised labour, led by Mr Asamoah, had laid their proposals before the NTC for consideration and a meeting had been convened on January 31, 2010 to discuss their demands.
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